THE Rockman thread

[paulyc]

Plug into a chorus pedal, put one side into a Rockman or Rockmodule (Distortion Generator or Sustainor) and the other side into a tube amp (Marshall, whatever...doesn't even need to be a tube amp...I used my Marshall MG15 with a Boss GE7 in front of it), plug the Rockman into some computer speakers for low volume playing or the PA for high volume and vary the volume on each set up until you get the balance you want...it kills for ULAK.

 

[rbc]

Dont forget to truly capture the rockman sound in all its glory you need full range cabs, or better yet, the rockman cabs- although there were only 50 made..My xpr is the cats meow for me, better all around for me than the sust. or DG.The key is to use at least 2 eqs for the sus. & DG( my dg has an added pre eq insert point), but with one eq in the loop of my xpr its killin it.goes way beyond boston tones, will almost do death metal.When I play out in my 80s tribute band w/ the xpr,the F.O.H. guy every time comments on how good the tone is compared to everything out there today.He told me he personally liked the the tone I got better than the ax fx, kemper, and line 6 bands he's ran before.The only pieces I am looking for is the pg 2,the rackmount dual loop,and maybe the xpra..but the hyperspace pedal is where its at if you wanna go all the way.

It looks like you might have a pair of the Rockman Guitar Monitor Systems with the PA500 and cabinets. Do I have that right?

 

[Little B]

Dont forget to truly capture the rockman sound in all its glory you need full range cabs, or better yet, the rockman cabs- although there were only 50 made..My xpr is the cats meow for me, better all around for me than the sust. or DG.The key is to use at least 2 eqs for the sus. & DG( my dg has an added pre eq insert point), but with one eq in the loop of my xpr its killin it.goes way beyond boston tones, will almost do death metal.When I play out in my 80s tribute band w/ the xpr,the F.O.H. guy every time comments on how good the tone is compared to everything out there today.He told me he personally liked the the tone I got better than the ax fx, kemper, and line 6 bands he's ran before.The only pieces I am looking for is the pg 2,the rackmount dual loop,and maybe the xpra..but the hyperspace pedal is where its at if you wanna go all the way.

It looks like you might have a pair of the Rockman Guitar Monitor Systems with the PA500 and cabinets. Do I have that right?

Yes,correct.I searched for years and years till I found those 2 original cabs and head plus the pa500 poweramp.I also have 2 more cabs.The cabs sound killer,..One of the keys to the rockman sound is using full range cabs,whether theyre rockman cabs or pa cabs.

 

[rbc]

Yes,correct.I searched for years and years till I found those 2 original cabs and head plus the pa500 poweramp.I also have 2 more cabs.The cabs sound killer,..One of the keys to the rockman sound is using full range cabs,whether theyre rockman cabs or pa cabs.

That is a very nice system. I'll be starting with a Sustainor and Chorus/Delay soon. It's going to be a long way till I get to having a PA500. I bet they don't come to market very often.

 

[rbc]

I thought I'd add one more thing. The Rockman line is probably one of the few lines that scaled from a headphone amp (Rockman Ace, X100, etc...) to a 500 watt stack (PA500 plus XPR or Rockmodules). Perhaps the only.

 

[rbc]

XPR is basically a programmable X100

Having 100 presets for compressor, pre-EQ, preamp, post-EQ, chorus and echo/reverb is really cool. It can eliminate a big pile of pedals. Even if you don't dig the Rockman gear, it makes an interesting example of how to line up effects.

 

[rbc]

Lynch NEVER used the Rockman in that way...they went to FOH only, NOT into Marshalls. He only heard the TS9/Marshall on stage...the Rockmans were blended in for the audience, they are to be used full range, they suck any other way. ULAK was recorded like this, Rockman blended in (into the board direct full range) along with the Marshalls and Laney AORs.

It sounds like the Marshall was being used as a personal stage monitor for Lynch along with being sent to the FOH mixer? I guess the Rockman output might not have been in his monitor mix.

 

[paulyc]

The Marshalls were mic'd up and sent to FOH also...George didn't just use the Marshalls as a live monitor, the Rockmans were blended in, he said he didn't hear them on stage. There were 2 in 2 of those Rockmounts, a rack mountable recepticle for Rockman headphone amps made by a defunct third party. One was dirty the other was for clean sounds.

 

[rbc]

The Marshalls were mic'd up and sent to FOH also...George didn't just use the Marshalls as a live monitor, the Rockmans were blended in, he said he didn't hear them on stage. There were 2 in 2 of those Rockmounts, a rack mountable recepticle for Rockman headphone amps made by a defunct third party. One was dirty the other was for clean sounds.

That makes sense. I didn't realize he was using the headphone amplifiers in Rockmounts. I wonder if he ever used the Rockmodules or XPR?

 

[paulyc]

I don't think so...he's kind of a fickle gear whore, he changes things up all the time, so when he's done with a "phase" he's done. He's gone through SO MANY amp companies, and always comes back to Marshalls...he's said it himself.

 

[rbc]

I don't think so...he's kind of a fickle gear whore, he changes things up all the time, so when he's done with a "phase" he's done. He's gone through SO MANY amp companies, and always comes back to Marshalls...he's said it himself.

So much cool gear, so little time….

 

[paulyc]

Oh, I agree...not knocking him. I just think it's strange that he's said in interviews how he doesn't have that "old comfy pair of shoes" guitar tone like EVH or AC/DC where it sounds the same from album to album so he can stop searching...yet he's always on the hunt...he seems to have settled on Friedman Marshalls for quite a while now though, so we'll see...

 

[TrueTone500]

I got to try a Rockman Echo Module for the first time... Awesome! I like it better than the chorus/echo combo module. With its in-line buffer/driver circuit, it's like having a Deluxe Memory Man that you can use in the effects loop.

 

[rbc]

The Rockman Stereo Echo continues to fetch a pretty impressive price on Ebay. I guess they don't make it to market that often.

 

[UltraGary]

Most of these sites only work properly when you plug headphones in.

THE Boston sound (if you're interested)

Well, here are a couple of links to help you get started...
Rockman-Gearup.com
Rockmancentral.com
Rockman.fr

This topic is a little stale, but I have an update for it. The rockman.fr web site is alive and well, though rockmancentral.com seems to have died. I'm working on rebooting the rockman-gearup.com forum. The domain transfer isn't complete, but the new forum is up and running. For now it's running under one of my domains:

http://rockman.rbcarleton.com/

If you are looking for a hyper-focused Rockman forum, this is the place.

Best,

--Bruce

 

[rbc]

Most of these sites only work properly when you plug headphones in.

Thanks for the shout out!

 

[rbc]

There are a couple of interesting ads for the Rockman with Joe Satriani in them. I thought I'd highlight them. One is for the Rockman Sustainor, a guitar amplifier simulator:

http://www.rockman.fr/Ads/90_02_GW.jpg

The other is for the totally over the top Rockman Guitar Monitor, a 500 watt stack made of Rockman components:

http://www.rockman.fr/Ads/90_04_GW.jpg

He's quoted on using the Rockman gear for 'Not of This Earth', 'The Headless Horseman', 'Ice 9', 'Midnight' and 'Circles'.

Best,

--Bruce

 

[rbc]

Rockman Distortion Generator:
Nothing more than the Edge and Distortion circuit of the Sustainer with an added 3 band EQ before and a treble booster after the OD. Also has a MUCH improved Auto-Clean circuit

I think the Rockman Distortion Generator is one of the more mis-understood Rockman Products. I've seen some demos on YouTube where guitarists try to use it as a distortion unit. They miss that it is a full amplifier simulation. It includes compression, distortion and cabinet simulation circuitry. Compared to the Rockman Sustainor, the Distortion Generator lacks the noise gate and external loop, but includes a three band pre-distortion EQ. If you put a Distortion Generator together with a post EQ, you wind up with extremely flexible amplifier sound that you can send directly to the mixing board, perhaps via effects.

 

[Hung Huy Tran]

There are a couple of interesting ads for the Rockman with Joe Satriani in them. I thought I'd highlight them. One is for the Rockman Sustainor, a guitar amplifier simulator:

http://www.rockman.fr/Ads/90_02_GW.jpg

The other is for the totally over the top Rockman Guitar Monitor, a 500 watt stack made of Rockman components:

http://www.rockman.fr/Ads/90_04_GW.jpg

He's quoted on using the Rockman gear for 'Not of This Earth', 'The Headless Horseman', 'Ice 9', 'Midnight' and 'Circles'.

Best,

--Bruce

Cool, thanks Bruce.

 

[rbc]

Rockman Compressor
This is one of the Rockman modules I don't know much about since the sustainor has a built in compressor I never really payed attention to this unit.

That being said it was a favorite unit amongst guitarists. I once noticed one in the backstage warm-up rack for Eddie Van Halen. I don't know if it was used on his stage setup though

I thought I'd add a shout out for the Rockman Guitar Compressor. It was one of the Rockmodules targeting guitarists, who might not be using the Sustainor or Distortion Generator amp simulators. Those have built-in compressors. Here's an ad for the Rockman Guitar Compressor from 1989:

http://rockman.fr/Ads/89_02_GP_C.jpg

Best,

--Bruce